‘Mysterious Streetscape’ is a global photo contest organized by cizucu, open to submissions from all creators. Through cizucu’s contests, outstanding works are curated from the submissions, with the aim of discovering new talent as a platform and supporting the community as a whole.
Here we introduce the submissions and awarded works from the ‘Mysterious Streetscape’ contest, held under the theme of ‘Lost Items in the City’.
This time, we’ve also included some imaginative commentary from the cizucu editorial team.
Featured Works
Image by fujikko
fujikko
‘Pencil’
cizucu Editorial Team (Imaginative Commentary)
An elderly man was sketching beneath a large pine tree, but when a sudden thunderstorm struck, he hurried home and dropped his pencil. He has many similar short pencils at home, so he doesn’t go out of his way to look for it, but this one was a particular favorite among his regulars.
(I’ve never used a pencil down to this length myself… The contrast in this photograph is wonderful!)
Image by yukarin.Kagiake
yukarin.KagiAke
‘Piece of cube’
cizucu Editorial Team (Imaginative Commentary)
Boys who couldn’t solve the Rubik’s Cube by the book committed a small crime. Once broken, the cube can never be restored. Since they won it by chance at a festival, they seem to have no qualms about breaking it.
(I’ve never been able to solve a Rubik’s Cube either…)
Image by usubafilm
usubafilm
‘For Some Reason, the Hercules Beetle Is Under Surveillance by a Camera’
cizucu Editorial Team (Imaginative Commentary)
This Hercules beetle actually belongs to the landlord who installed the camera. Named after the mighty hero of Greek mythology, ‘Hercules’, it was set up as a guardian deity, and ever since, illegal dumping in the area has dramatically decreased.
(This was the card I wanted most in Mushiking… Is it a plush toy?)
Awarded Works
We have selected as awarded works those that were particularly interesting or evoked a strong sense of narrative. This time, the reward is ‘a book chosen by the cizucu team to inspire creativity’, and we will send a randomly selected book curated by the cizucu team.
Image by Kuni...
Image by Kuni...
Kuni…
‘Daikon’
cizucu Editorial Team (Imaginative Commentary)
At the ‘Daikon Festival’ held nightly in the photographed area, participants bring their prized daikon radishes to compete for the best in color, shape, and size. All but the winning daikon are chopped up, thrown out, or otherwise treated harshly, but for the honor of the prize, many daikon enthusiasts gather.
(A town where daikon are regularly found on the streets—what kind of place could this be…)
Image by hsdsj
hsdsj
‘Junker’
cizucu Editorial Team (Imaginative Commentary)
It seems a ‘junker’ dropped their ‘junker hat’. No one but a junker would want to wear such a hat, and only a true junker would drop it, so the owner is undoubtedly a junker.
(This photo made us laugh out loud. Brilliant! Thanks also to the person who dropped the hat!)
Image by fujikko
fujikko
‘Otoshi-mae’
cizucu Editorial Team (Imaginative Commentary)
Kuidaore Taro makes a long-awaited appearance at a famous movie audition. If all the judges—a cowboy, astronaut, dinosaur, pig, and potato—raise their approval cards, he’ll be cast in the latest film. But… it seems Taro-kun has committed an unforgivable offense.
(The play on words with ‘otoshimono’ in the title was absolutely brilliant! IPPON!)
In Closing
How did you enjoy it? Was our imaginative commentary a bit over the top…?
Since starting this contest, finding lost items in the city has become a real joy.
There’s nothing quite as fascinating as seeing the world differently through photography.
We hope to hold this contest again after some time, so keep your eyes on the ground and keep smiling as you walk!